Social Phobic Case Study - Allison

Allison is in her late twenties:

I am a social phobic. My panic attacks started when I was at secondary school. I was always blushing from an early age but hadn't actually experienced panic attacks until I I was directly asked questions in a classroom or had to give presentations. Simply walking into someone I knew would leave me a mess. After leaving school I chose a university course that avoided presentations and tutorials, for I knew that if I had to talk to a group of people my panic attacks would be unbearable.

However, after I arrived at university I found the course had changed and tutorials and presentations were compulsory. I managed to get away with attending the minimum of tutorials or being signed off sick, but every -presentation I had to do would end in a severe panic attack, even after four years. Sometimes the panic attacks would last up to an hour or more, and the embarrassment and shame lasted for a year afterwards. Sometimes I would get -so drunk the night before that I would still knowingly be drunk while doing the presentation the next morning ... the alcohol helped me to avoid a panic attack.

After leaving university I worked in various jobs where I could avoid any position of responsibility and confrontation with others, although tasks such as typing, writing or answering the phone in front of anybody would leave me shaking, flushed, faint, having palpitations and with a numb left arm for anything up to an hour afterwards. If anyone came to talk to me and looked me in the eye, the same things would happen. I could not even carry a cup of tea without having to sit down if I knew someone was watching.

Socially I could not eat in public without severe tremors - or even lift a glass to my mouth in front of anyone. I could not sit at a table with people looking or talking to me without blushing, which would lead to panic attacks. I could not take hold of salt or pepper pots without shaking, or even sign my cheques or Switch receipts in shops. All these things became impossible and I avoided them at all costs - unless, of course, I was drunk first, knowing that the next day the symptoms would then be much worse! If ever I walked into someone I knew, I would have a panic attack when they saw me and so I avoided going out. If anyone stared at me on the tube I would have an attack, and if I was standing up I would feel I was going to pass out, blinded with dizziness and acute panic.

This has been my life for the last five years, and each new counsellor I got I prayed would help - but to no avail. I have had cognitive behaviour therapy, hypnotherapy and done a lot of work myself to try and solve the problem. Nothing worked, much to the dismay of all my counsellors, who knew that I knew what they were going to say next!

So I ended up severely depressed whereas I had not been depressed before. I was ashamed to go to work where everyone felt sorry for me and I left my job. I was scared to go out in public places where I knew I'd meet someone I knew, and as my depression worsened I couldn't face any public place. Sometimes when I was on my own I also, suffered - if I got a piece of food stuck in my throat, if I thought I had left the gas cooker on, if I thought I might be late for something - so it was not just social situations that instigated the panic. Carrying around an enormous and unbearable weight from my throat to my stomach became my life, until I finally accepted the fact that I would have to take medication as I couldn't continue like this.

I was loath to take drugs but took my doctor's advice and am now on an antidepressant which took some weeks to work, but I persisted. This drug has had some side-effects but I am no longer suicidal. The weight has lifted; I can get out of bed, can work and not panic and I can go out in public. Although nobody believes me I would definitely not be here today if it was not for this drug.

Many social phobic young people find school life very difficult. They may be brilliant scholars but they are struggling with their fears of people and find it difficult to settle in school and make the most of their academic talents.

An adolescent social phobic is in a sorry plight, particularly if he also develops agoraphobia, which often happens, causing him to become housebound. Lack of contact with his peers exacerbates the condition and may result in a retreat into daydreams and fantasies, avoiding contact with the real world outside his home and inevitably losing touch with other people. A girl may hope for a romantic hero to arrive at her front door and sweep her off her feet, though she certainly would not be able to cope if he wanted to take her away from the safety of home.

It is especially difficult to persuade adolescents to take part in a treatment programme, as recovery would mean having to face up to the realities of normal everyday life.

Some older women who have become housebound may focus all their emotions on to a well-known celebrity - often an actor or a pop singer, and often dead (safer). Recently there was a television documentary about a woman who was in love with Elvis Presley, and her restricted life revolved around the singer, his recordings and a mountain of other memorabilia.

It is not only in the Western world that social phobia is a problem. In Japan, 1.2 million young people, 75 per cent of them boys and young men, suffer from severe social phobia known as bikikomori. They become completely isolated in their bedrooms, refusing to see or speak to anyone, including their own parents. Their families are so devastatingly embarrassed and ashamed that they keep it a secret and virtually isolate themselves. Because of their embarrassment the condition is only just becoming recognised, and at last counsellors are being trained to help the sufferers and the rest of their family.

It is suggested that the problem arises because of the huge pressures young people are under to succeed at school. They often start by developing school phobia and agoraphobia as they begin to avoid school Severe social phobia develops from there, and the sufferer retreats from the outside world altogether.
This state of affairs wouldn't arise in Great Britain as therapy is available, although the waiting lists may be long. In the meantime, the phobia organisations can offer advice and practical help.



If You Want Immediate Anxiety Relief, Check Out Our New Natural Technique To Stop Panic Attacks and General Anxiety Fast!